Before Ethan could force himself to speak again, soft footsteps echoed from deeper inside the house.
Unhurried.
Measured.
Familiar.
A moment later, Raven entered the sitting room.
Ethan instinctively looked up and found himself pausing.
The man who always carried himself with unsettling composure looked different tonight. Not dramatically so. Raven still appeared calm, elegant, and frustratingly self-possessed, but there was a warmth around him that Ethan had never noticed before.
Something quieter.
Something undeniably human.
Still irritatingly perfect.
And somehow, that made him even more frustrating.
A folded blanket rested over Raven's arm as he crossed the room. He didn't spare Ethan more than a brief glance. His attention settled immediately on Missy and stopped beside her.
His gaze lowered briefly.
As though she was the only person he had been looking for.
"Not finished yet, Heart?"
Heart.
The intimacy of it struck Ethan strangely hard.
